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G.O.P. Senate Hopefuls Compete in a TV Debate

George Maragos, left, Wendy E. Long and Bob Turner at the NY1 studio in Chelsea for a primary debate on Sunday.Credit
Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

The three Republicans hoping to challenge Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand fought to stress their differences in a televised debate on Sunday, seeking to draw attention to a primary campaign that has provoked little enthusiasm among voters.

All three candidates stuck to broad Republican themes like reducing spending and improving the business climate in New York and the country. But an hour of questions brought out several distinctions on issues, including taxes and same-sex marriage, that are important to the right-leaning voters who are coveted in a Republican primary election.

The debate, at the NY1 studio in Chelsea, was moderated by Errol Louis and Liz Benjamin, who host nightly political programs on the NY1 and the YNN cable networks, both of which broadcast the program. It came a little more than a week before the June 26 primary, for which experts expect a very low turnout.

The best-known candidate in the field, Representative Bob Turner, who last year won the Brooklyn and Queens seat previously held by Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat, fielded criticism from his opponents for not ruling out tax increases. He has not signed the antitax advocate Grover G. Norquist’s pledge to oppose all such increases, unlike his opponents, Wendy E. Long, a Manhattan lawyer, and George Maragos, the Nassau County comptroller.

Ms. Long asked Mr. Turner to defend his stance that raising taxes should be on the table in negotiations over reducing the country’s budget deficit and debt.

“You know where I stand on this: I just think that we can’t ever put those on the table,” Ms. Long said. “Your willingness to put them on the table sounds to me sort of like the policies of Barack Obama and Kirsten Gillibrand.”

Mr. Turner, noting that the White House and the Senate were held by Democrats, struck a tone of practicality and said that for anything to get done, “we’re going to have to talk it out.”

“I’m not going into the negotiations — and I don’t think any Republican should go into the negotiations — and say, ‘This is how it’s going to be,’ ” he said.

Mr. Maragos, who accused his opponents of “continued indecision” in defining their stances on tax issues, did not talk of compromise. Asked how he would work with Democrats in Washington like Senator Charles E. Schumer, he pivoted to discussing his decades of business experience in the financial industry.

“I think I would start by trying to teach some of our Congress people some economic theory,” Mr. Maragos said. “Unfortunately in Congress we have a lot of attorneys but very few economists and very few business people.”

Mr. Turner was puzzled. “I think George’s suggestion that we school Senator Schumer in economic reality would be an interesting challenge,” he said.

Over all, the debate showcased far more policy similarities than differences — all three candidates said they supported hydraulic fracturing, for instance. But they tussled ever so slightly even in areas where they agreed, like same-sex marriage.

Mr. Maragos criticized Ms. Long for not publicly advocating the repeal of same-sex marriage in New York. Ms. Long said that was not her role, given that she was not a state lawmaker, but Mr. Maragos pressed further, saying it was her duty, since she had the backing of the State Conservative Party — a distinction that Ms. Long has eagerly publicized.

Mr. Turner was not eager to discuss the subject. “This ship has sailed in New York,” he said. “I want to keep the focus on jobs and the economy. The Gillibrand record, the Obama record — that’s what this is going to be about.”

In a lightning round of questions, Ms. Long said she would refuse to attend a same-sex wedding on principle. Mr. Maragos said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was a better mayor than Rudolph W. Giuliani; Ms. Long and Mr. Turner, who has Mr. Giuliani’s backing, said they favored Mr. Giuliani.

Asked if they would report to federal authorities a worker in their home who they found out was an illegal immigrant, Ms. Long and Mr. Maragos said yes; Mr. Turner said, “Probably not.”

The debate gave the candidates a chance to draw contrasts with one another, which they have struggled to do in recent weeks. A Siena College poll conducted this month found that 70 percent of Republican voters did not favor a candidate.

“Whichever campaign does a better job of identifying their core voters and getting them to the polls, that campaign wins,” said Steven A. Greenberg, a Siena pollster.

A version of this article appears in print on June 18, 2012, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: G.O.P. Senate Hopefuls Compete in a TV Debate. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe